Day: October 18, 2017

Oregon state legislators who voted for you to pay higher health insurance premiums and higher hospital costs don’t want you to think you’ll be paying more because they raised taxes. In their words, they aren’t raising taxes at all; they’re simply putting assessments on these services and letting insurers and hospitals pass on the extra costs to you.

The problem is, when you see your Voters Pamphlet and ballot, you won’t see the words “tax” or “taxes” anywhere in the official statements. You’ll only read about “assessments.” Apparently, tax supporters think you’re more likely to approve them if you don’t believe they’re taxes at all. Assessments sound so much more palatable, don’t they?